Opposition MPs Kapil Sibal and Asaduddin Owaisi have hit out at PM Narendra Modi's Rajasthan speech where he said that, if voted to power, the Congress would redistribute people's wealth "among those with more children and infiltrators", as he sought to refer to Muslims.
Sibal, a Rajya Sabha member, said the statement appeared to be driven by the BJP's estimates that the first phase of voting on April 19 didn't go in their favour.
"Recently, PM Modi gave a speech, it seems that the first phase of elections has not been in their favour. After that speech, I feel that a lot of people would be disappointed...Which indicates that minorities living here are intruders. What kind of politics and culture is this?" Sibal was quoted as saying by ANI.
He added, "Nafrat ke ghode ka dulha bann kar aap kabhi Hindustan ko barkarar nahin rakh sakte (you cannot sustain India by becoming a mascot of hate). We respect the post of prime minister, and the person holding that post, but when the PM is not worthy of respect, the intellectuals in the country should raise their voice. (RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat is silent. Why is he silent?"
"You (PM Modi) are giving a speech that the Congress will give the property of women to infiltrators and terrorists... Politics has stooped to such a level... It has not happened in history and I do not want it to happen. I want to ask a question to the Election Commission, why was action not taken immediately? You (EC) should condemn it and a notice should be given to PM Modi," Sibal said.
ALSO READ: 'First Right To India's Wealth Is With...': Asaduddin Owaisi On PM Modi's 'Infiltrators' Speech
AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "Modi today called Muslims infiltrators and said that they have more children. From 2002 till now, Modi has had only one guarantee: abuse the Muslims of India and get votes."
He added, "If we are talking about the wealth of the country, then in the Modi government, his billionaire friends have had the first claim on the wealth of the country. Today 1% of the people of India have eaten up 40% of the country's wealth. Common Hindus are being shown the fear of Muslims, but the truth is that someone else is getting rich with your money."
What Modi Said
In his speech, Modi referred to the Congress manifesto and claimed it "says they will calculate the gold with mothers and sisters, and then distribute that property". "They will distribute it to whom? Manmohan Singh's government had said that Muslims have the first right on the country's assets," he said.
"It will be distributed to the infiltrators. Should your hard-earned money go to the infiltrators? Do you approve of this?" he said.
Modi was referring to former prime minister Manmohan Singh's controversial "first claim" remark made in 2006, where the latter talked about the need to devise plans to empower disadvantaged groups.
Singh had said, "I believe our collective priorities are clear. Agriculture, irrigation and water resources, health, education, critical investment in rural infrastructure, and the essential public investment needs of general infrastructure, along with programmes for the upliftment of SC/STs, other backward classes, minorities and women and children.
"The component plans for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will need to be revitalised. We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably in the fruits of development. They must have the first claim on resources. The Centre has a myriad other responsibilities whose demands will have to be fitted within the over-all resource availability."